Bad Intentions
by Leighton Harper
Summary: Kassie Thistle was always weird, but after a violent attack on her alters her mutation Tony Stark helps her out. Now as an adult, he needs her help as the newest Avenger and Pietro is fascinated by her unusual abilities. I use characters and some plot from both The Avengers and the new X-Men films, but In this story Quicksilver is the Age of Ulron version. **ABANDONED**
1. Leaving Home

Disclaimer: **I use characters and some plot from both The Avengers and the new X-Men films.** I didn't make this a crossover because I really don't mention any of the characters that much from X-Men aside from Beast but I warped the timeline from those films (the story is set shortly after Age of Ultron) and Peter/Quicksilver plot line never existed in this story. **In this story Quicksilver is the Age of Ulron version.** I obviously do not own The Avengers or The X-Men.

 _ **...**_

"I wouldn't care if the human world was falling into infinite peril and I was the only one who could save them. I'm not leaving you, Beast."

Closing his eyes, Dr. McCoy removed his glasses from his face and pinched the bridge of his nose. His office was already stuffy enough as the air was broken and this was about the fifth time that they had had this argument in three days. "I'm going to D.C., to fight for equal rights for mutants _and_ humans. You don't even exactly support that, so you're not missing out on anything."

The young adult slammed down a blue book on the desk subsequently cracking its spine before her to capture Hank's attention. He reopened his eyes and rubbed his face in an exasperated fashion. "Why are you trying to get rid of me?" she shouted. Jet-black veins began to spread through her olive skin from below her eyes while her green irises turned furiously bright red and the white surrounding them flickered to the color of night.

Hank rose from his seat, running out of patience. "Kassandra. I need you to calm down and listen, really listen to me for once in your life. I am your family, and you couldn't get rid of me if you tried." Still seething, she dropped back down in her chair, just like back when she was in trouble as a pupil at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. "I am your brother, your best friend, your teacher, your biggest supporter, frequently your greatest enabler, and sometimes your father. I will always be. As your guardian for those few years, I feel strongly that this is a new path that is going to bring you fulfillment, if not a little bit of happiness and peace as well. Joining The Avengers will be just like any other mission you've been on with the X-Men, just a little bit longer. But you're still going to come home to me, wherever I am. Come on Kass, tell me that you are happy with the other X-Men without lying. Imagine not having to work with Cyclopes every day!" He felt a little more relieved as he watched her fighting back the smile tugging at the corners of her lips as the veins began to slowly creep back. "Pretty great, huh? Look. I know that maybe the X-Men aren't your life calling and you put your best effort in for my sake. I accept that. I understand and accept your stance on mutant-human relations and I accept that you don't have to be just like me. I wouldn't want you to be, because you are the best Kassandra Rose Thistle-McCoy that will ever be. But I do know that you hate HYDRA more than the innocent humans that they terrorize. And Doctor Banner needs you. Uncle Tony needs you."

Kassie rolled her now back-to-normal looking eyes at him, now that his heart to heart made it through the deep end and headed back into the shallows. "I haven't called Stark "Uncle Tony" in like four or five years. I'm an adult, and he's an asshole."

"You're an asshole. Ever wonder where you got that from?" Hank laughed, Kassie shook her head. "Stark never missed a Christmas _or_ a Halloween. Who dressed up with you like Beauty and The Beast when you were fifteen and took you grown-up trick-or-treating? That one wasn't me."

"I just don't know what use I could possibly be to The Avengers. They're the best of the best. And maybe Banner doesn't want to be found. Who are we to say that he doesn't know what he's doing?"

"I don't know how you're going to help them. Maybe Tony just needs a friend for all we know."

"I'm a terrible friend," she groaned.

"No you're not. You're the best friend I'll ever have."

"You already said that," she pointed out.

Hank sighed and put his glasses back on as he sat back down behind his desk. "You know, Doctor Banner put your name forward to become an avenger two years ago, right around the time of your twentieth birthday. I didn't want you to go. I feel bad about it now. I was being selfish."  
"Don't feel bad. I wouldn't have gone anyway," she muttered.

"Stark didn't think you were ready either. But he does now, and I do too. Bruce Banner and Tony Stark helped me save your life over seven years ago, remember that? They were there with me when you needed their help the most. I think you can do this tiny favor for them in return."  
Kassie knitted her eyebrows together and scoffed. "Tiny?"

"Tiny. In the grand scheme of things," Beast smirked.

 ** _…._**

Steve Rogers stood at the end of the ramp that led away from the helicarrier as he watched his newest recruit descend. She was tall (her file said about five-foot-eight) but she was thin and willowy. He reminded himself that she had been a Captain of the X-Men at a young age so she had to be sturdier than she looked. She probably didn't do much hand-to-hand combat though, given her abilities, but she would still need to be trained on it given some of his past Avenger experiences. If Stark believed in her, and he rarely believed in anyone, then he believed in her too. "Welcome Kassandra," he said as she finally reached conversational earshot distance. He stuck out a hand when the girl reached him. "The name's Steve Rogers, or Captain America. Call me what you like."

She shook his hand with a firm grip. Good indicator. "Kassandra McCoy, alias is Voodoo Doll. But you can call me Kassie, Captain."

Steve smiled. "The rest of the team is in the living quarters waiting for us. Can help you with a bag?" he asked, gesturing to her backpack and overnight bag politely.

She shook her head no. "I'm okay," she smiled. It was only her laptop and an overnight bag, the rest of her stuff was in a truck being driven from Xavier's School to The S.H.I.E.L.D. compound and would probably be thoroughly searched through, knowing the government and their affection towards mutants.

Steve made small talk as they headed inside through numerous hallways and twisting corridors towards the central elevator. "Well, half of the team is here. Thor is in Vanaheim, one of the realms, dealing with some rebellion of sorts that is a bit out of our Midgardian league," he chuckled. "Agent Romanoff is with Fury doing recon related to finding Dr. Banner. Hawkeye is back home with his family at Walt Disney World, and War Machine is in D.C. working on a new pilot training program. But the rest of the gang is here. The others will be back in a few weeks when The Avengers "officially" reconvene."

"Am I the only one that will be living here?" she asked mildly confused.

"Of course not. Most of the team that you're about to meet lives here with the exception of Sam and Tony."

Kassie nodded her head, pretending to know who Sam was. She was better with aliases; it's basically all she used at Xavier's. She rarely called her best friend Storm by her real name. It just seemed weird. But the difference was birth name vs. a mutant's true self, as the Brotherhood put it. Here, there were a lot of frail humans with an alias, so she supposed could change her outlook a bit. Besides, they seemed to have longer names.

"Are you taking notes on how to find your way around?" Steve asked, pretending to be annoyed by her lack of attentiveness. Kassie looked at him wide-eyed for a moment before she realized that he was joking as the elevator doors closed. "Don't worry, you'll figure it out after you get lost enough. Or not. Pietro Maximoff has zipped up, down, and around these halls at least a thousand times and is still petitioning we hand out building maps to new recruits."

She smirked. "So don't ask that guy for directions, right?"

"You learn quick," Steve replied as the doors reopened. "13th floor, living quarters. Try to remember that one," he said as pointed to the number printed on the walls as they stepped into yet again another hallway. "Almost there."

The pair walked a few more yards before making an abrupt left at the first entryway they passed, revealing to towering dark cherry oak doors. Steve stepped ahead and pulled the doors back so she couldn't quite get a good glimpse until they had walked into the actual room on the other side.

"Whoa."

Steve looked at her gaping mouth as her eyes swept over the room. "I'm guessing it's a little more modern than the fortress that is Xavier's School."

"A little? This is state of the art compared to that old castle." Glass, chrome, and more glass. The entrance area was a giant platform with the center missing, revealing the floor beneath them in the open aired box shape. The ceiling was incredibly high and there was a set of stairs nearby. She could see the other side of the living quarters from where she stood thanks to her gifted eyes. Glass walls were across from her that held a corridor and from what she could see, two doors with dorm numbers on them. More hallways to her left and right. Downstairs a few people were lounging on brightly colored plush couches or playing cards in what seemed like a massive living room.

"You guys coming down, or do I need to fly up there in my super suit?" a familiar voice shouted at the pair. Kassie knew who it belonged to even if she wasn't close enough to the edge of the railing to see exactly who was beneath them.

"You could always take the stairs, you know," Steve shouted back walking towards them. "You can leave your bags up here, you can move them to your room when you're ready to head over there.

"Now what's the fun in that, Captain?" the voice bantered on.

Kassie laughed quietly. Perhaps she missed Stark a _little_.

"There's my infant Avenger," Tony said stepping into her sight line.

"That's a new one," Steve remarked.

Tony ignored his comment. "What, no running majestically into my welcoming arms kiddo?" The others looked at him with incredible skeptism apparent on their features as they began to gather around him.

"You couldn't even be bothered to meet me on the helipad because it was raining."

"Couldn't risk messing up my hair. You're a young woman, you get it."

Kassie rolled her eyes as she dramatically and dutifully dragged her feet across to the floor to give him an unenthusiastic hug.

"I can really feel the love right now," he said wrapping his arms around her. He pressed his face into her hair and muttered lowly. "I've really missed you, Kass."

"Yeah, yeah," she said, as they pulled apart. "You're going soft."

That got a couple of laughs from the spectators and a mirrored eyeroll from Tony. Okay, maybe she did pick up some attitude quirks in their brief time spent together, she thought.

The crew started to line up behind her as she began to take them all in. "This is Sam Wilson, also known as Falcon, so now you can stop pretending like you know who I'm talking about," Steve introduced his friend.

"Oh thank heavens you picked up on that," Kassie snickered with relief.

Sam looked at them strangely as he shook her hand. "Pleasure to meet you," he said, still unsure.

"Everyone, this is Kassie McCoy," Tony interjected.  
Kassie shot him a look that said 'thanks-for-that,-but-I'm-an-adult-who-can-speak-for-herself.'

"I am Vision," said the man—er robot man thing—to Sam's right. "No other name."

"Nice to meet you Vision," she said now being the one giving strange looks. She made a note to ask what was up with him/it later.

"And these are the Maximoff twins," Vision said, gesturing to the pair at his side.

"I am Wanda, or um…Scarlet Witch they call me," she said with her thick accent taking her hand excitedly in both of hers. Kassie looked at her wide eyes, they were beautifully strange in person, not like on the television set they watched the Sokovia debacle on back at the school. "Kassie," she nodded at the Maximoff girl who released her hand.

"Pietro / Quicksilver." Her brother simply introduced himself with a small wave from behind his sister's shoulder. He didn't seem to be riddled with bullets, the up side of being a mutant.

"Ah, bad direction guy," Kassie said turning to Steve. When she looked back him his blue eyes looked vaguely disinterested but his mouth deceived him. "What's your super name?" he asked, ignoring whatever he had just missed.

"Voodoo Doll," Kassie replied, realizing that she had only told Steve before they entered the room.

He screwed up his face thinking momentarily. She looked at him, waiting for whatever he looked like he was about to say. She raised an eyebrow during the awkward silence. "I'm sorry…but what does that mean you can do?"

Kassie smirked. "I'll show you sometime."

Suddenly a bolt of pain shot through her head. Kassie grimaced and reflexively touched her forehead. Pietro and Wanda directly ahead of her looked very concerned.

"What is wrong?" Wanda asked.

"Nothing. Just tired. It was a long day of packing and goodbyes," she lied.

"Have you fed today?" Stark interjected.

Pietro wrinkled his face processing the strange English phrase. _That's a strange way to ask if someone has eaten today,_ he thought.

 _Busted_ , Kassie thought. "No. I finished off my supply at the school last night. Hank said there would be a shipment from the manufacturer waiting for me here."

"There is. I took the luxury of stocking your mini fridge with it before you got here," Tony replied.

"We weren't sure if you'd want that stuff out in the open until you're comfortable here," Steve lowly added to the conversation. The three of them had gravitated close to each other while the others looked at them curiously.

"Thank you," Kassie said smiling faintly at both of them. "It's been a long night," she said turning back to the others. "I'll see you all in the morning…?"

"You need to rest up for your evaluation in the morning. It's way past your bedtime young woman," Tony scolded.

"Oh fuck off," Kassie laughed softly as she headed for the stairs.

"Language!" Tony shouted after her.

And now everyone was laughing.


	2. Misinformed

The air was palpable between Wanda and Kassie as they walked into the S.H.I.E.L.D. central training facility on the far end of the compound. It was "Stark designed" however it was completely modeled after Dr. McCoy's Danger Room at Xavier's Manner, long before the estate became a school. Wanda had offered to escort Kassie around the compound before her evaluation, keen on the opportunity to befriend the first natural mutant she had met, and although Kassie had accepted the offer she was hardly in the mood for hair braiding and secret sharing. "I'm not much of a morning person," Kassie had warned her as they headed to the cafeteria. "or a day person, or a night person… I'm really not much of a people person at all," Kassie had said. That was enough to get Wanda a little down in the dumps.

"I hope you're not expecting a grand display," Kassie declared as they approached the gathering of Avengers inside the training room.

"We expect you to show us you've got," Steve smiled at her. He must've assumed that she was nervous.

Kassie set down her towel and inky black water bottle on the white court-like flooring. "Who's going to my victim?" A few Avengers raised their eyebrows.

"Why don't you explain how your powers work first, then someone can volunteer to aid in your evaluation demonstration," Steve replied.

"Ah, my first team-trust exercise. My abilities are pretty basic, I'm afraid. Fundamentally, I'm a body-jumping empathic energy sucker." Steve urged her to continue. "What you can't see is: I can feel all of your emotions right this very moment. The curiosity, the skepticism, the judgy-ness…"

"How do you prove that?" Pietro interjected.

Steve and Wanda sent him biting glares. "you're skepticism…" Kassie reiterated. "With some people it's stronger than others, generally people who I've had prolonged energy connectedness with, but there's always a near constant stream of sorts. Part two of empathy fun-time, I can take an emotion from you, feel it myself, and overcast it onto those surrounding me. Again, heavily or dully, depending on the strength of the connection."

"Doesn't sound like much," Pietro muttered lowly.

"Shut it, Speedy." Tony growled. Pietro opened his mouth with undoubtedly something snappy to say but Wanda beat his speed for once, delivering sharp jab to his side with her elbow.

"Anyhow," Kassie continued with a smirk, "I guess the fun part is 'body jumping'. It's more like puppeteering I suppose. When I emit my energy and link it with someone else's I can control their body movements. It's only a temporary thing—"

"'Could be more, with a little work," Tony said.

"Alright little human man, enough with the interruptions. After years of training with the X-Men I would think that I would know what I am capable of," Kassie said. Everyone seemed a little taken back by her biting comment, but Tony only smiled knowingly. "That's essentially the extent of my contributions to the Avengers I'm afraid, aside from being fast and smart and don't forget pretty. I don't exactly know what I'm doing here either."

Steve and Tony cracked matching grins while everyone else remained bewildered, with the exception of one person standing behind Kassie at the entrance to the facility. The only person that could creep in like the night without a soul's notice. "You're here because for some reason, Stark things that you can contain the Hulk when we track him down," Natasha said unamused. Kassie turned around as everyone's attention transferred to the Black Widow. "Don't look so surprised, the mission ended early. Which means the lead was dead, and evidently that's a good thing since the Voodoo Doll isn't as powerful as Stark led us to believe."

"Natasha. We knew she would need some training," Steve said defensively. He hadn't truly expected Banner to turn up overnight, especially since the Doctor did not want to be found by his comrades.

"I know she can do it. Look at Magneto and Marvel Girl, those are mutants with a basic skill they were able to make so much stronger!" Tony argued. Natasha's face remained hard.

"Look, we need her for other reasons and you know this," Steve sighed.

Sam, Vision, Wanda and Pietro stood back watching the soap opera unfold, glad not to be a part of it. Even Vision perhaps was a bit afraid of Natasha as a "tiny human," as Kassie would put it. "Would anyone like to fill me in on what they assume that I will be doing for them?" Kassie chimed in, her features streaked with irritation.

"We were hoping you, being a highly trained X-Man—woma—mutant… , would train with Wanda and Pietro well, refine their abilities properly," Steve said. "My enhancements were a little less specific, after all."

"What Cap is trying to say is, they're Hydra created and trained," Tony elaborated.

"How is she supposed to train them if we need to strengthen her abilities in the first place?" Natasha sniped.

Tony rolled his eyes. "They can help each other. Y chromosome Maximoff over there is going to be her practice Hulk. His speed is inordinately powerful, it could very well be comparable to Hulk's strength."

"Pietro is a toothpick in comparison," Natasha scoffed.  
"Hey!" Pietro said as he stepped into the fray.

"Wait, what about Hydra?" Kassie questioned, suddenly distracted from the insults and high expectations being flung at her.

"Hydra…Hydra trained the Maximoff's…I thought you said you watched the whole Ultron thing on the television?" Tony asked.

"Come on, it's not like they had well-informed live action commentary while you were destroying Seoul and saving Sokovia. And you're the one who told me about Bruce disappearing after the fact," she reminded him.

Natasha parted her lips to say something mouthy, as did Tony, while Kassie and Pietro stared at each other hostily. Before Wanda had to separate everyone, Steve knew he had to do something. "Obviously," Steve said as he stuck both of his hands between Natasha and Tony, "Agent McCoy was not briefed properly. We assumed she had a lot of prior information that she in fact did not. But listen, we're a team. Even with our new additions and our missing ones. We need Kassie's help. And I believe in her, so lets get down to business and give her a reason to believe in us. She was Banner's friend too."

"Hydra…?" Kassie replied, still stuck on why she was working with Hydra associates when the organization was all she wished to destroy.

Tony grimaced. He hadn't considered how Kassie would react to the Maximoff's. "Hydra. I hate them just as much as the next patriot, kid," said Steve. "Let's break for now, we can reconvene for the demonstration in a few hours after Kassie has been adequately informed."

Natasha scowled. "I'll let Fury know—"

"Not necessary, I can handle it." Tony said.

"Actually, I think I need to have a sit down with our newest member privately," Steve responded. "We let you handle her recruitment thus far, Tony. I think I should've been a little more hands on."

 _ **...**_

 **Author's Note:**

 **Sorry about the wait everyone! I had some confliction about what direction to take this in but I went ahead and made an outline that I'm super excited about! Lots of exciting plot twists ahead ;)**

 **This chapter was super long and had quite a few scene changes so I went ahead and cut it in half, so expect an update soon! Thank you for the reviews, just bare with me and I promise the next chapter will be more exciting when Pietro starts causing some real havoc for Kassie. Who knows if they'll ever really get along?**


	3. A Lesson in Mutation (Beginners Course)

"Let me get this straight: Pietro and Wanda Maximoff's are the result of Hydra experiments…that they volunteered for?" Kassie said in aggressive disbelief.

They sat in Steve's apartment, at his faux 1930's sodapop shop counter in his small kitchen. Steve understood her, he really did, but in order to work as a team they were going to have relieve any standing animosities. "They were fighting for their country, darling. They were trying to save their people from tyranny and poverty. They grew up in a war zone—"

"That was…no, no, let me guess. A Stark Enterprise powered war zone?"

"Yes, but they've moved passed that for the greater good of the planet."

"Right, Stark aside. You said they were 'enhanced by those experiments… what, like you were?"

"Precisely."

"But they're not like you…" Kassie said slowly.

"Failed experiment, technically."

Kassie chewed her lip while Steve let her process her thoughts. "Not a failed experiment, Captain. They did exactly what they intended to do." Kassie groaned and kicked her feet against her stool dramatically. Steve raised his eyebrow. "They're not enhanced. They're mutants."

"I thought mutation was a gene you were born with?" Steve asked.

"It's a dormant gene. There are tons of mutants in my generation who may never, ever know that they're mutants—that they posses this dormant gene. If they live totally normal live, and puberty doesn't act as a trigger, then they'll never know."

"How do _you_ know they're mutants? Why haven't any government scientists alerted us to this?"

Kassie grit her teeth. "Oh, I don't know, because we try to keep it a secret from humans? Because experimentation on humans and mutants alike is absurdly unethical? Because the only way to force a mutation is through violent, traumatizing torture over and over again until they create the right hell that works? Do you have any idea what those twins have been through? What they volunteered themselves to go through? That's not how an enhancement works. I mean, they created the Winter Soldier, didn't they? He's nothing like them."

Steve stayed silent a moment absorbing all of the information she had dropped on him as he stared at the cup of crimson liquid that Kassie was sipping from with a half-angry pout on her lips. Mutants were uncharted territory for him. He had her whispers about natural super-humans during the war, but never anything solid. Never at the forefront. Never real. That's why America created him. "So what do we do now?"

 ** _Meanwhile,_**

"I don't see how we're expected to trust her because of Tony Stark," Pietro grumbled. Wanda rang her hands in her lap pensively while Vision reviewed his information on the newcomer, which was very little. This disconcerted Vision. He had access to Stark's database but a file for Kassie McCoy had not been updated to the Avengers sector of information. The A.I. kept his concerns to himself though; he did not wish to rile Pietro further. It was obvious to him that whether it was the girls apparent familiarity to Tony Stark or otherwise, the two had, as Sam Wilson might say, "rubbed each other the wrong way". Of course, unlike Wanda who had the gift of the mind, Pietro was suspicious of everyone. He wondered if the boy had always been this way, whereas Wanda could simply dip into someone's cognizance to put herself at ease.

"I have seen her before. And she knows things," Wanda said quietly. The two others, alone in the main recreation space, looked at her.

Pietro turned down the sounds of MTV playing on the flatscreen. "What do you mean?"

"Last night, upon meeting her, I felt her appearance was vaguely familiar as if I'd seen her distorted in a dream once. Captain said she's familiar with both Stark and Doctor Banner, so I believe it must have been in their heads back in Sokovia. But I cannot place exactly where or why," Wanda said as she knitted and unknitted her eyebrows as if she was trying to hold onto something very far away.

"It was Stark," Pietro said.

Vision sighed. "We do not know that."

"Of course we do. They know each other and I want to know how the worlds richest arms dealer-turned super hero knows a mutant girl. She is even younger than us, no?"

"She is twenty-two," Wanda replied to her twin.

"For what reason would Stark be so close with her? If it were hero-business related surely it would have been in the press. He has no living family remaining," Pietro continued.

"I have done a full search of the internet and the so called 'dark web'. There is very little about her personhood, and no connection to Tony Stark documented," said Vision.

"What is there?"

"Her full name on the arrival notice to the Captain is Kassandra Rose Thistle McCoy. She won a local junior level science fair when she was eleven, named Kassandra Thistle," said Vision. "And…and she is mentioned in an obituary the following year. It seems to be that of her mother, Anastasia Thistle-Jones. She was survived by her husband, two step sons, and her own daughter Kassandra. It seems she died in car accident… with her son, age six."

The air stilled momentarily. Pietro sighed, "Tragic story. Unsurprising for an Avenger."

"She has been married?" Wanda asked.

"There is no marriage certificate. Guardianship records. After the mother died, Thomas Jones took custody at twelve years of age. At age fifteen guardianship is once again transferred, this time to a Doctor Henry McCoy. Kassandra relocates from Arcadia, Florida to North Salem, New York and is enrolled at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Kassandra Thistle ceases to exist, name is legally changed. All records cease."

"She became X-Man?" Wanda asked.

"Possibly. There is little on X-Men members and Xavier's School."

"We need to find out more. Stark must have something, somewhere…"

"I think we have been nosey enough, brother."

"They want me to be her punching bag, Wanda. They want her to get strong enough to retain the Hulk by conquering me. I need to know what the Avengers are putting me up against."

Wanda was quiet, understanding both sides of the argument.

"Doctor Banner's lab is still in tact, is it not?" Vision wondered aloud. Pietro nodded. "If there is something, some file or disc that is not uploaded to the main database, that could explain how he knew Kassandra it might be of some help."

 ** _Back in Steve's Apartment,_**

"Maybe not now, but someday the Maximoff's are going to be targets," Kassie said. She stood with her empty glass and walked back to the counter where she removed another black bottle from her dufflebag and began to unscrew the cap as she continued. "They may be Avengers, but they are Hydra creations, and not normal men. Just wait until someone gets a whiff of their mutations. They'll start coming. Friends of Humanity, The Brotherhood, in addition to Hydra attempts to reclaim what is theirs… they must be aware of what's coming for them."

"This is why we need you right now. I figure it could be years before Banner is retrieved, before he's ready to come home, but we need you now."

"Why does the Avenger initiative even want them? Speed is one thing, but the girl… she's in the perfect position to be a tool for the government. I'm having a hard time believing that they truly trust you to keep her in check," Kassie said.

Steve shook his head. "We couldn't have defeated Ultron without Wanda. And Pietro, he's rough around the edges but he saved Agent Barton's life. They're our friends and there was nothing left for them in Sokovia. The Avengers aren't protecting only America, we're defending the world. Humans and mutants alike."

Kassie poured the red liquid from the bottle into her cup, rescrewed the lid, and dropped it back into her bag. Contemplatively she took a sip from the cup and leaned against the opposite side of the counter. Her free hand toyed with a pencil, drawing grey spirals on a yellow legal pad. "Did they know what Hydra were doing? When they volunteered to become monsters?" she asked.

"They were orphans when they were recruited by Hydra. They were told they would become weapons, stronger than anything Tony Stark could build, stronger than the missile that destroyed their home and killed their parents," Steve said. "I did the same thing back in my day."

"You don't know what it's like, Captain America. The people were never made to be afraid of you. You were worshiped while we are outcasted. We are abused, we are murdered for being born different from the humans born in the last ten thousand years. They are terrified of us. They are terrified of the unknown. They are terrified of power which they cannot control. You don't know what it's like. And I don't know who in their right mind would sign up to live like we do," Kassie said lowly. She was both angry and sad.

Steve reached for her hand and Kassie dropped the pencil. "You're right. I don't know what it's like or the dangers that they will face. But they are a part of my team and I will face those dangers at their side. Help me, help them. Prepare us for a world that is about to find out who they are." Kassie looked at him, her golden eyes slightly less guarded, but unsure. "Be my co-captain."


	4. Feeling Paranoid

Wanda's face soured as they stood outside Dr. Banner's abandoned workspace, hardly touched since Ultron. Of course S.H.I.E.L.D. had sifted through the permanently disheveled lab looking for clues and making scans, but Vision was under the impression that it had been left completely intact and from the outside it looked just like any other workshop and/or office space at The Avengers Initiative compound. "I don't want any part of this!" she hissed at Pietro.

"Here is how this is going to go. You, sister, are only going to standby and be our look out. Vision is going to walk through the wall and let me in from the inside, and then we are going to spend five minutes—ten at most looking for clues."

"This is not some mystery for you to solve. If Captain trusts her—"

"He only trusts her because Stark trusts her. Do you trust him?" Pietro sneared.

"That is not the point, and you know that. Do not play dumb."

Vision looked back and forth between the bickering siblings. "Should I begin the mission or…?"

Wanda rolled her eyes at Pietro once again getting his way. "Let us get this over with." Pietro grinned.

Vision turned and began to phase through the wall, his form fading away revealing lightly glowing blue translucent circuitry as he did. On the other side of the door, the lock popped and Vision swung the door open. Pietro stepped in without looking back while Wanda stared at the two figures disapprovingly.

"Down to business," Pietro muttered as began riffling through an unlocked file cabinet, already opened and jutting out from the frame. The place was a wreck. There was dusty equipment everywhere in shades of silver and grey which once was white, papers spattered across his massive desk by the door and operating table, and drawers were hanging open everywhere with reckless abandon. Vision took to one of the few computers and tried to get it back online. Pietro shuffled through one stack to another. And this process continued.

"There's nothing on these hard drives," Vision said.

"Keep looking. Here," Pietro said as he passed a stack of papers to the A.I., "go through these, will you?"

Pietro walked to the other side of the room and started shuffling through haphazardly strewn bits of lab equipment. Among some assumedly failed Stark inventions a black sheet covered a high rectangular shape. Pietro removed the scattered objects from the top and pulled the sheet of, casting a puff of dust into his face. As Pietro coughed and comically attempted to wave the dust away with his hand, Wanda stepped into the room.

"Could you be any louder?" she hissed.

Vision looked up from his delegated task, "apologies Miss Maximoff."

"I told you not to call me that…"

"I think I found something," Pietro said. The pair turned their attention to the corner in which Pietro stood. From the doorway, Wanda could see a box, like a small blue refrigerator sitting on top of a workbench. Pietro lifted the latch on inside and had already opened it by time he had captured their attention. Icy air caressed his face coming from the the inside of the machine, and revealed about thirty small vials of a dark red liquid lining the inside. "Someone has been in here recently," Pietro said. Vision approached Pietro as Wanda wandered into the room. Pietro lifted a bottle from the front of the first row. "What is this stuff?"

"Should you be touching that? What if there is…radiation?"

"I don't think turning into the Hulk would be that bad," Pietro remarked as he turned the vial over delicately between his fingers looking for some sort of label. There was none.

"It must be battery powered," Vision theorized as he near the machine for a closer look. "I'm taking a scan of the machine right now. Grab a vial or two and we can analyze it later," he said.

Pietro did as he was told, slipping three vials into the pocket of his black drawstring sweatpants. Wanda watched Vision thoughtfully as he ran the diagnostics on the machine. Pietro reached his hand into the open door and felt around, looking for something—anything else. Crouching down, he noticed something near the roof of the contraption that looked like an ice cube tray. It was closed but there was no key whole. Pietro tried to push it open. No luck. "Vision, can you take a look at this?"

"It seems to be sealed shut, not by mechanical means…"

Wanda slipped in between the two and placed a hex on the door. It flipped open.  
Pietro smirked. "I didn't see that coming. I thought you wanted no part in this?"

"I want to get this over with," Wanda reiterated.

Pietro reached in and removed what looked like a wad of tissues. Delicately, he unwrapped them one by one to reveal a flat square shape made of plastic with a metal center. "Man, I haven't seen one of these in forever."

"What is that? I have no recollection." Vision said confused.

Wanda laughed, and smiled at the rarely befuddled android. "It is something called a…"Floppy Disk".

"Where are we going to find a computer capable of reading this? It has to be connected somehow," Pietro groaned.

"You do not know what could on that disk! It could be anything, with no connection to Voodoo Doll."

"You spent time with her this morning, take a look at this," Pietro said as he took another vial from the ice-box and handed it to Wanda. She eyed it momentarily, but her cellphone buzzed abruptly.

Wanda paused with the vial in one hand, and removed her phone with the other. "Did you get that message, Vision?"

"Yes. It seems the Captain is calling us to reconvene."

"Wonderful." Pietro rolled his eyes.

 ** _…._**

"You're agitated," Kassie said to Pietro as he approached her before the group. He immediately stepped into fighting stance.

Fists up, feet apart. "Let us get this over with."

"Gladly."

Pietro waited for Kassie to too get into proper fighting stance. That was his first mistake. "What are you waiting for, Printessa? The day has already been spent," he said sarcastically. As he spoke, he felt a vague pulling sensation, as if his body was being compelled towards her, yet he did not move. He nearly assumed that he had been imagining the feeling, until instead of being tugged towards her he was suddenly propelled across the room, into the far wall of the in-door training facility.

"What? You didn't see that coming?" Tony barked loudly in between wheezing laughter. Sam and Steve chuckled quietly too, but Wanda and Natasha kept their mouths in silent thin lines. Vision remained has impassive as ever.

Pietro didn't miss a beat. He connected the dots pretty quickly, that the tugging sensation had been her overwhelming energy melding with his. He decided that was a feeling that he did not enjoy. At top speed he launched him self at her, ready to swing as soon as he was near enough, but Kassie raised her arm, coincidental timing he thought, at the precise moment his blur reached her, and slowly halted his form, forcing him down onto his knees. He groaned in frustration and bit of pain as he struggled against her to no avail.

"I think that's enough for the display," Steve said as she pushed Pietro further with her brows furrowed in concentration.

Steve thought she did not hear him and was about to repeat himself when she jerked her attention towards him. She looked away from Pietro, her brown ponytail swinging behind her from side to side. Pietro was frozen in place. "Are you sure?"

"Positive," Steve responded.

Kassie looked back at Pietro and shrugged. With the dismissive wave of her hand, she released control and Pietro dropped to the ground like an anchor.

"What about her emotional control?" asked Natasha.

"Kassie," Steve instructed.

She nodded in response before re-focusing her attention on Pietro, who had bolted back upright next to Vision and his sister. He glowered at her.

"Weird as hell," Sam muttered as feelings of fierce resentment and paranoia settled upon everyone one by one. Steve flexed his shoulders back uncomfortably while Natasha's eyes darted suspiciously.

"Someone didn't take their happy pills today," Kassie said with a smirk.

"Get. Out. Of. Me." Pietro demanded. Kassie obliged, letting it drop. They all felt a little dazed, Pietro's feelings lingering ambiguously but the weighted haze had been lifted. "How long?" Pietro asked Steve.

"How long what?"  
"How long until I get to be done with her?"

Steve sighed. This would be much harder than he predicted.


	5. ABANDONED AND RE-WRITTEN

Soo after an abundance of soul searching I've vacillated between the choice to continue or reinvent this story. I've decided to scrap the whole thing because honestly Pietro and Kassie probably weren't going to get a happy ending anyway. If you were a fan of Kassie however, I'm recycling her OC for a Bucky Barnes fan fic that almost takes place AU after she and Pietro break up if you squint really hard. I'm really sorry guys! The new story will be called "The Tin Man and the Viper". I'm writing it for my new MCU tumblr but I'll also post it here.


End file.
